The present invention relates to a device for selectively dispensing different liquids.
More precisely, the invention relates to selectively dispensing different liquids separately or jointly from a single item of packaging containing a plurality of independent reservoirs.
Known dispensers generally comprise a reservoir equipped, in particular, with a drawing-off member of the pump or valve type for drawing off the liquid, which member is provided with a spray head suitable for being actuated by being pressed by hand.
Devices exist that make it possible to dispense different liquids packaged in a common unit containing a plurality of independent reservoirs, but each liquid is dispensed separately by pressing on a button that is specific to it, and that acts on the corresponding head.
Those devices are thus not ergonomic, and they do not offer the possibility of dispensing liquids separately or simultaneously, without any risk of interference.
In addition, those devices do not make it possible to program various dispensing modes.
An object of the present invention is to solve those technical problems satisfactorily.
The invention achieves this object by means of a device of the preceding type, characterized in that it comprises a central housing supporting the reservoirs peripherally and movable relative to the associated dispensing heads secured to or integral with said housing, and including a selective locking key for selectively locking said reservoirs in positions in which they are fixed relative to said heads.
According to an advantageous characteristic, each reservoir includes a locking rod extending inside said housing, and whose free end forms an abutment for the locking key.
In a variant, the locking key is constituted by a rotary pin extended longitudinally by an adjustment knob and radially by lugs whose side edges are suitable for coming into contact with the locking rod of one or more of said reservoirs simultaneously by means of said pin being turned.
According to another characteristic, each reservoir includes at least one guide cavity in which a return spring is housed and which slidably receives a projecting positioning element carried by another reservoir.
In a specific variant, said heads are carried by a transverse wall forming a spacer for the reservoirs.
Preferably, said locking key is mounted in a cutout in said transverse wall.
According to yet another characteristic, said dispensing heads are connected to discharge ducts opening out into at least one nozzle carried by said housing.
In a particular variant, the walls of the reservoirs that are adjacent to the housing include respective peripheral engagement zones which are in sliding contact with the inside wall of the housing.
In another variant, the reservoirs are provided with bushes into which the drawing-off members are fixed.
In a preferred embodiment, the central housing is disposed between two reservoirs that form push buttons, namely a bottom reservoir and a top reservoir.
In a variant, the top reservoir has a bush that is longer than the bush of the bottom reservoir so as to enable the drawing-off member to operate in the upside down position.
In another embodiment, said locking key is provided with three lugs, two of which are diametrically opposite each other, and two of which are adjacent to each other.
Preferably, the two adjacent lugs have thicknesses that are substantially equal and that correspond to one half of the thickness of the opposite lug.
Advantageously, the two adjacent lugs define a notch in the vicinity of the pin for allowing the end of one of the locking rods to move radially.
The device of the invention makes it simple and effective to perform programming and to implement various dispensing modes.
The device of the invention has an outside appearance that is symmetrical and thus particularly aesthetically pleasing, in which each of the reservoirs ergonomically performs the dual function of container and of actuator in the manner of a push button.